Fair Housing phrase guide / National origin
Why “all-american neighborhood” gets a Fair Housing caution in listings
Caution Flagged as a caution, because it often reads as a preference for, or against, a group of people.
Why
Describing an area as "all-American" is a description of the residents' national origin or ethnicity. Lists flag nationality references of any kind.
Safer wording
There's no one-click rewrite for this one. Describe the property, not the people, and rewrite this part by hand.
What the tag means
Caution means the phrase is on the caution side of the cited lists, or describes people in a way that usually reads as a preference. Many agents still use some of these, but describing the property instead is the safer move.
What the law covers here
National origin is a protected class under the federal Fair Housing Act. The lists flag words that describe the people who live somewhere by ancestry, birthplace or language. A building's architectural style, or a restaurant's cuisine, is a different thing, and the rules here treat those separately.
Sources
- Long Island Board of REALTORS®: Fair Housing Advertising Word and Phrase Guidelines (Mar. 2025)
- CRMLS Fair Housing Word & Phrase List (Apr. 2021)
Related phrases
All national origin phrases on one page · The 12-check listing checklist
Not legal advice. Word lists can't judge context, and laws differ by state and city, with some protecting more classes than federal law does. If you're unsure about a listing, ask your broker or a fair housing attorney. Rule nat-all-american, ListingLint rules v2026.10.2.